Single-stage lumbar sympathectomy and omentopexy: a new surgical approach towards patients with Buerger's disease.

Single-stage lumbar sympathectomyand omentopexy were performed in six patients with Buerger's disease at the Department of Surgery, Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Ajmer, India, between January 1994 and December 1996. All were male smokers and had limb coldness, intermittent claudication and rest pain. Four had limb discoloration and three had ulcers of toes unresponsive to medical treatment. Postoperatively there was relief of symptoms in all, with improvement of tissue oxygen saturation and increase in claudication distance. We conclude that single-stage lumbar sympathectomy and omentopexy is an effective new surgical approach towards patients with Buerger's disease.